The Xfinity Series playoffs are set to begin at Kansas. Twelve drivers will enter the opening round, but only four will make it through to Phoenix in November.
According to several of these playoff drivers, Kansas will play a pivotal role in whether they remain in contention for the championship. This track won't have the wild card factor of Talladega, nor will it have the unknowns of the reconfigured Roval.
For one driver, it's an opportunity to score crucial stage points while continuing Joe Gibbs Racing's dominance in Xfinity competition at Kansas.
"Nine (wins) out of 12 races? That's a really good rate there," Sheldon Creed said on Tuesday. "I don't what we are in the points, minus three right now? ...Yeah, I feel good about the notebook that we have. Obviously, we've been pretty consistent lately and unloading pretty good.
"So, I think all of that is going to be really important this weekend. Having a good practice session. Qualifying is going to be very important as stage points are going to be even more important now as we get into these first couple of rounds. Obviously, if we can't win the race, we want to point our way in."
Creed has the speed to stockpile points early at Kansas and set up a deep playoff run. He knows it's possible to go winless in a season and reach the Championship 4 on points. He's seen both Daniel Hemric and Matt Crafton accomplish this.
However, a win remains the priority before Creed moves on to Haas Factory Team next season.
The stage is set. Let the #NASCARPlayoffs begin in the #XfinitySeries. pic.twitter.com/LkoBcxX40X
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 23, 2024
"I want to be consistent the next seven races, but I would really love to win in this first round, win stages so our points are up, and would love to go win (Las) Vegas or Homestead and have an 'off weekend' in Martinsville," Creed said.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is far from the only one in need of points early. Sammy Smith, who left JGR after last season, enters Kansas nine points below the cutline. He has no playoff points to his name after a regular season featuring early issues and a crew chief change.
Smith started the season with Adam Wall on the pit box, but JR Motorsports made a change ahead of Atlanta. The team moved Phillip Bell from Brandon Jones's team to Smith's.
And while the first three races with Bell on the pit box featured some struggles, Smith now feels more confident that this team can score points early and get back into championship contention. He and Bell have had some time to learn each other.
"I don't see a timing issue of (the crew chief change)," Smith said. "It needed to be done, so better to do it now than before the playoffs start.
"So kind of having those first three races together and working together has been good, and I feel like we have good confidence in each other going into the playoffs."
While Creed and Smith focus on scoring points and trying to win a race, a fellow Xfinity playoff driver will just try to avoid early incidents while learning the track.
Shane van Gisbergen has a good number of playoff points entering the first round of the Xfinity playoffs. He has three wins and two stage wins, which put him 10 points above the initial cutline.
That doesn't mean he can feel comfortable considering that he has never completed a lap at Kansas Speedway.
This intermediate is one of three new tracks SVG will face during the playoffs, which means he will be out of the conversation early as he gains experience for the late runs.
"The tracks I don't know, I'm normally pretty conservative starting, and it takes me a long time," SVG said. "Normally, by stage 3, I'm pretty competitive, but some weeks I kind of get through the field, or I get sort of held up.
"Normally, in practice, I'm just conservative not to crash. I realize that every lap's important, and it just keeps adding to my experience. So I'll probably, I'll keep that same approach at Kansas. I'll just build up through the race and then be there at the end."